Upside Down Usage of Paper Coffee Cup Insulator Sleeve

ABSTRACT

It is technically feasible to take existing insulator sleeves that are common at establishments selling hot beverages in paper coffee cups and turn them upside down. It is also feasible to place paper coffee cups onto the upside down insulator sleeve. The invention is to use insulator sleeves upside down for paper coffee cups. Using the insulator sleeve upside down provides a base when on a flat surface and a stable contact so the sleeve cannot fall off when on a flat surface. Carrying the two together is no harder than the current use of insulator sleeves. A benefit to advertisers is the upside down insulation sleeve aims the advertising message up toward human sight where the current usage has the advertising pointing down toward the ground.

CONTENTS

1. Description of Invention

2. Background

3. Summary

4. Drawings Descriptions

5. Detailed Description of Invention

1. DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

For the remainder of the Specification Page, Inventor refers to David James O'Keefe the named inventor in the Application Data Page.

A paper coffee cup insulator sleeve is an already patented manufactured product widely used in establishments that sell hot coffee in paper coffee cups in the United States. Note—these establishments also use the paper coffee cups and the insulator sleeves to serve other hot beverages such as but not limited to tea and hot chocolate. Usage of the insulator sleeve by the establishments using them and the United States public is the insulator sleeve is placed over the paper coffee cup in what the inventor terms the right-side up position. The paper coffee cup itself is conically shaped with perpendicular cuts at top and bottom, the bottom end the smaller diameter end and closed to contain the beverage and the larger diameter end being the top and open to pour and drink the beverage. The insulator sleeve is conical with perpendicularly cut open ends on top and bottom. It fits over the conically shaped paper cup with the larger diameter open end of the insulator sleeve situated near the cup's larger conical top and the smaller diameter open end of the insulator sleeve situated near the cup's smaller conical bottom. It adheres to the cup imperfectly, resisting the force of gravity to slip off, by means of friction between the cup and the insulator sleeve. Note—the conical angles of various size paper coffee cups' match the insulator sleeves in use presently well enough despite small differences in conical angles of the paper coffee cups in the United States so that one sized insulator sleeves fit what is typically called small, medium and large size paper coffee cups.

The invention is to utilize the existing coffee cup insulator sleeve upside down. The insulator sleeve as manufactured in the United States and the paper coffee cups as manufactured in the United States require no change for the invention. The invention is to use the existing insulator sleeves upside down so that the larger diameter open cone end of the sleeve is closer to the ground and the smaller diameter open end is the end up closer to the sky.

The invention is to place the paper coffee cup onto the insulator sleeve so the larger open end of the conical insulator sleeve sits below the paper cup, forming a base for the cup and its beverage if placed on a flat surface. The paper coffee cup and its beverage is placed onto the smaller diameteropen end of the conical insulator sleeve. The larger diameter open end of the conical insulator sleeve is not at all in contact with the paper coffee cup. The contact between the insulator sleeve and the paper coffee cup is at the contact between the smaller open end of the conical insulator sleeve and where it meets the conical circumference of the paper coffee cup. Gravity and the opposing conical angles of the insulator sleeve and the paper coffee cup cause (when the combination is on a flat surface) a permanent contact. That is, the insulator sleeve on a flat surface upside down (larger diameter open end down) with the paper coffee cup placed onto the insulator sleeve creates opposing force that makes is impossible for the insulator sleeve to slip off as it is prone to do in the usage where the insulator sleeve is placed over the paper coffee cup.

The utilization of the invention is valid for both carrying the beverage in the paper coffee cup and placing down the beverage on a flat surface.

In the utilization that is the invention (insulator sleeve upside down contrasted with its current widespread usage, and cup placed onto the smaller open end of the insulator sleeve), the larger open end of the insulator sleeve provides a circular base for the paper coffee cup that is larger than the cup's circular base. The adhesion between the insulator sleeve is still friction force when the paper coffee cup and the upside down insulator is being carried by a human hand. The invention has the cup adhered to the sleeve at a small band circumference where the cup's larger diameter is forced into the insulator sleeve's smaller diameter. Current use of the insulator sleeve has the friction adhesion spread over the whole inside area of the insulator sleeve. At least as good or better adhesion is achieve in the utilization that is the invention. That is, in the case where the paper coffee cup and the insulator sleeve are carried by a human hand, the invention of placing the paper coffee cup onto the upside down insulator sleeve, the sleeve is no more prone to falling off than in the current usage of putting the insulator sleeve over the paper coffee cup in the right-side up configuration.

In the current widespread usage of insulator sleeves for paper coffee cups advertising is often printed on the insulators sleeve. The advertising is printed such that the message orientation, lettering or other symbols, is read right side up when the sleeve is used upside up configuration. That is the advertising is currently printed so the message is read right side up when the insulator sleeve is situated on the cup with the larger open conical end up and the smaller conical end down. The invention will reverse the advertising orientation so the message will be read right side up with the insulator sleeve in the upside down placement on the paper coffee cup. That is, manufacture of the insulator sleeve would remain the same but the printing would reflect the invention usage of the insulator sleeve—larger open conical end being the bottom of the product and the smaller open conical end being the top, the smaller open conical end fitting onto a paper coffee cup.

2. BACKGROUND

Insulator sleeves for paper coffee cups containing hot beverages are made with the goals to both insulate the beverage so it stays hot and to insulate the human hand holding the beverage from the heat of the hot beverage. Both insulating goals are typically poorly met. The goal of keeping the beverage hot is in mathematical modeling near impossible to meet if the cup moves around as is typical for beverages being drank. The insulator sleeve does not cover the whole paper coffee cup so the human hand still has the opportunity to be harmed by the heat of the beverage. The invention provides similar insulating goals, and achieves them as well as the existing usage of the insulator sleeve. The human hand still partly holds the insulator sleeve now placed upside down on the paper coffee cup and is protected. The bottom of the coffee cup is very well insulated which can only enhance the insulation of the beverage's heat particularly when the insulator sleeve in the upside down position is on a flat surface and the paper coffee cup is placed onto the insulator sleeve.

Insulator sleeves for paper coffee cups tend to slip off because there is no opposing force other than distributed friction to stop gravity from pulling them down toward the Earth. Even well fitting but especially slightly ill fitting insulator sleeves either fall off and cause unmitigated litter or annoy the user by having him or her re-secure the insulator sleeve over the paper coffee cup. The invention provides a superior friction fit between the insulator sleeve and the paper coffee cup due to the paper coffee cup's increasing cone diameter being placed onto the insulator sleeve's fixed eventually small enough cone diameter. The insulator sleeve in the invention configuration adheres with friction to the paper coffee cup just as well as the right-side up usage of the insulator sleeve when the beverage is being carried by a human hand. On a flat surface the insulator sleeve in the invention configuration provides a far superior bond between the insulator sleeve and the paper coffee cup.

Insulator sleeves for paper cups fit, in general, the standard three size paper coffee cups now sold in the United States. Those being small, medium and large sized. The insulator sleeves used as described, the invention, also fit the three sized paper coffee cups.

A main purpose for insulator sleeves is to provide advertising space for businesses seeking message space for their products. This was not true when the advent of insulator sleeves for paper coffee cups happened. But over the years, say 1985 to present, more and more the insulator sleeves are used as advertising space as well as a legitimate commodity in themselves. The utilization currently of the insulator sleeves in the right-side up configuration fitted over the paper coffee cup positions most of the advertising space of the sleeve on the top of the sleeve (the larger open conical end), where it angles away from the human sight. The angle of the advertising points to the ground away from the horizontal. It is hard to read the advertising on insulator sleeves due to the angling away from the eyes, thus not meeting the goal of advertisers as well as might be expected. With the insulator sleeve in the upside down configuration, the larger open conical end providing a base for the paper coffee cup when on a flat surface, provides a much superior advertising space. The area of most advertising space now angles up pointing to the eyes toward the sky away from the horizontal, is more likely to meet the advertisings' goal of communication.

3. SUMMARY

The invention is basic and simple. Existing insulator sleeves for paper coffee cups are turned upside down and therefore used in a very different way. With the invention a base for the paper coffee cup is created where in the right-side up usage of the insulator sleeve no base exist or is possible. Carrying the paper coffee cup with the upside down insulator sleeve placed onto the paper coffee cup is possible because of the friction fit between the insulator sleeve and the paper coffee cup and the force of the human hand affixed to the insulator sleeve and the paper coffee cup simultaneously.

The invention provides a better opportunity to communicate advertising on the insulator sleeves. With the insulator sleeve positioned upside down, the greater area of advertising area is angled up to the human sight.

4. DRAWINGS DETAILED

Drawing Attachment 1.0 depicts a typical paper coffee cup, a typical insulator sleeve and the typical usage of the insulator sleeve over a paper cup. Inventor notes here that the typical insulator sleeve has a smaller open end diameter of 2.5 inches, a larger open end diameter of 3 inches and a height of 2.9 inches. The invention is valid for the typical insulator sleeve plus or minus 35 percent of any or all dimensions of manufactured insulator sleeves. Small variations in the insulator sleeve dimensions do not make the invention any less valid.

Drawing Attachment 2.0 depicts the invention. Note the typical insulator sleeve is noted in this diagram, for the typical size paper coffee cups: small, medium, and large, to be valid for the invention's usage. In usage, the invention holds the paper coffee cup's bottom above a flat surface, the paper coffee cup's bottom is above the insulator sleeve's bottom. The contact between the insulator sleeve and the paper coffee cup is gravity stable by means of two opposing cone angles meeting under the force of gravity when the insulator sleeve with the paper coffee cup onto it are on a flat surface. In carrying by human hand, the contact provides enough friction so the insulator sleeve is not prone to slipping off.

Drawing Attachment 3.0 brings attention to the differences in advertising between the insulator sleeve used in the right-side up manner, and the insulator sleeve used in the way of the invention, that is in the upside down manner. Note—the right-side up usage has the message being advertised pointing toward the ground more than the horizontal and away from human line of sight. The upside down usage that is the invention has the advertising message pointing more toward the sky than the horizontal and toward human line of sight.

5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To enact the invention requires no change in the manufacture of insulator sleeves minus the advertising printing phase of manufacture. Existing insulator sleeves or insulator sleeves made in the future that resemble existing insulator sleeves are the subject of the invention. The idea is to use the exact same or future like insulator sleeves with no manufacturing change, simply turning the insulator sleeve upside down and placing the paper coffee cup onto the insulator sleeve.

In the printing phase of the manufacture of the insulator sleeves, the invention would require a change to print the advertising or the pattern upside down relative to the way the advertising is printed on insulator sleeves used in the right-side up way.

The implementation of the invention would be based on a cultural change in the United States. Servers in establishments selling hot beverages would need to rotate the insulator sleeve 180 degrees so it is upside down relative to past usage and place the paper coffee cup onto the insulator sleeve. The United States' public would have to adapt to the new usage.

The inventor's opinion is that the upside usage of the insulator sleeve would be viable with the change in advertising on the insulator sleeve. To wit, advertisers will be desirous for the superior advertising area and angling that the invention newly accommodates. When the advertising is presented so the natural usage of the insulator sleeve is such that the larger diameter open end is down and providing a base for flat surfaces for the paper coffee cup place onto the insulator sleeve, the servers selling hot beverages and the United States public will then adapt.

It will be possible for manufacturers at the behest of advertisers to print advertising half for reading in the right-side up usage of the insulator sleeve and half for reading in the upside down usage of the insulator sleeve. This may help start the change of usage of the insulator sleeve. 

1. The invention precludes manufacturers from printing advertising on insulator sleeves used in the United States so the right-side up orientation is consistent with the invention of using insulator sleeves upside down without the patent holder's permission. This claim in inclusive of manufacture of insulator sleeves printed such that part of the advertising is consistent with the invention of using the insulator sleeves upside down.
 2. Currently the wide spread usage of insulator sleeves for paper coffee cups is that they are manufactured to be disposable, often made of paper. The invention precludes manufactures from making more durable less disposable insulator sleeves (for example made of but not limited to plastic or pottery or metal) if they are made to be used in the way the invention describes without the patent holder's permission. 